Long Beach State has only four more nonconference women’s basketball games before the Big West Conference schedule begins Dec. 30. The 49ers are 1-8, so a few more victories leading into that would figure to serve their confidence well.

The first of those games is tonight at 7 against University of San Diego at Walter Pyramid. The 49ers will play at California on Saturday, then they’ll play host to Florida A&M on Dec. 19 and North Carolina State on Dec. 21.

During this time, 49ers coach Jody Wynn will be looking to improve in specific areas.

“I hope to establish more consistency within the offense as far as just playing to each other’s strengths,” Wynn said. “And just really trying to focus on our individual roles, which will then in turn hopefully make our team better. …

“And we obviously need to clean up the turnovers and finish the defensive possession with a rebound. That would be nice.”

Indeed, Long Beach has 224 turnovers while opponents have just 154. The young 49ers – who have three freshmen averaging at least 17.3 minutes and three more averaging at least 14.7 minutes – have 102 offensive rebounds, but their opponents have 170 against them.

Senior forward Courtney Jacob – having played just the past five games after coming back from a knee injury – leads Long Beach in scoring with a 12.6 average.

Freshman guard Brandi Henton is averaging 11.2 points and freshman post Janae Coffee is averaging 7.8 points and a team-high six rebounds. Another freshman, forward Ella Clark, is scoring 6.9 points per game, pulling down 4.1 rebounds and averaging just over two blocks.

San Diego (5-3) is coming off a 70-44 loss to BYU on Saturday in a tournament in Hawaii. But the Toreros have beaten two Big West teams – Cal State Fullerton, 71-60, and Pacific, 72-61.

“They are a very physical and experienced team that plays well together,” Wynn said. “They have a bunch of upperclassmen who have played together for a couple of years now. It’s going to be a challenge for us in terms of their physical style and overall experience.

“Dominique Conners is a great guard, one of the best guards on the West Coast. And she has a really solid supporting cast.”

The 49ers will have an eight-day break after playing North Carolina State on Dec. 21. They will then play host to UC Santa Barbara in the conference opener.

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